Avatar : The Legend of the Maelstorm
by LordOfFigaro
Summary: Upon the end of the Harmonic Convergence, a mistake causes the end of the Avatar Cycle. Now the next Harmonic Convergence approaches and Vaatu is far more powerful than before. The Avatar must return and Korra must be the one to teach him. Under her tutelage Naruto will become the Avatar. His actions will write the Legend of the Maelstorm. Rapidly maturing Naruto. Stronger Sakura
1. Prologue: Avatar Returns

**I don't own Naruto or Avatar : The Last Airbender and Avatar : The Legend of Korra**

**They belong to Mashashi Kishimoto and Nickelodeon respectively**

"Normal Speech"

_"Normal Thought"_

**"Bijuu/Raava/Vaatu/Inner Sakura Speech"**

_**"Bijuu/Raava/Vaatu/Inner Sakura Thought"**_

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**Prologue: Avatar Returns**

Korra's Spirit stood over the defeated Dark Avatar; she purified it and sent it away with the words "Go in Peace". However her tasks were not finished, Raava approached her informing that Harmonic Convergence had nearly ended. Korra's Spirit took Raava and travelled to the spirit world.

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**Scene Change – The Tree of Time**

Team Avatar was putting up a valiant fight at the base of the Tree of Time. However the numbers were not in their favour. The heroes were losing out due to sheer attrition, slowly being pushed back to Korra's body which they were tasked to protect. Then Korra's Spirit arrived. It bathed the battlefield in holy light and purified the dark spirits.

Korra's Spirit merged with her body and she proceeded to ride up Raava to reach the light of Harmonic Convergence. However, just before her hand touched the light, she slipped. Harmonic Convergence ended and the Avatar cycle ended with it.

From within Raava, Vaatu emerged. Using the last vestiges of Raava's power within her, Korra trapped Vaatu into the Tree of Time once more. Team Avatar departed the spirit world victorious; however it was a hollow victory as Vaatu's parting words reminded them. **"You may have won Raava, but one day I will be free again. And now, your precious Avatar will not be there to save you."**

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Without the Avatar to guide it the world slowly fell into chaos. War became a near constant. During this period, benders became weapons, associated with nothing but conflict and death. They were feared and persecuted. Those blessed with the ability to bend were slaughtered and bending scrolls were burned to ashes.

5500 years later, bending was a forgotten art. However the wars did not end. During this time a man emerged, one who would later be worshipped as a myth, the Sage of the Six Paths, the greatest shinobi in history. He used his overwhelming might to bring harmony. He revived bending as ninshu in the hope that this time it would herald peace.

In time the man's message was lost. Ninshu the teachings of peace were perverted for war into ninjutsu. 4400 years (9900 years after Harmonic Convergence) later the world was divided into multiple nations that were homes to warring clans of ninja.

Even the spirits had adapted to this warring world. Most had evolved into animals that formed pacts with shinobi to aid them in exchange for the price of blood. A few had bonded with humans, creating abilities that came to be known as Kekkai Genkai. Very few spirits roamed the world, free and unrestrained.

Of the last type the greatest were the Bijuu. Nine incarnations of chaos. Bringing annihilation with nothing more than a wave of their tails. The only humans able to control these beasts, were the descendents of the Sage. They belonged to two powerful and opposing clans, the Uchiha and the Senju.

Relative peace finally came when Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, the leaders of their respective clans, declared a truce. They allied with each other and formed the village Konohagakure no Sato. Soon the concept of ninja villages took hold and one village per nation became a norm.

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**Spirit World – 96 years later (9996 years after Harmonic Convergence)**

Korra, like all Avatars, had roamed the spirit world upon her death. There was something different about the once proud Avatar. Her shoulders were crushed under guilt, her head hung in shame and the fire in her eyes gone. For the past 9996 years, she had observed the world and seen the chaos that would have been prevented had the Avatar Cycle continued. For the past 9996 years, she had done nothing but lived in guilt and punished herself for that one moment where she failed the world.

Now she was heading for the place of her failure, the very location she had avoided for 9996 years, the Tree of Time. Raava had summoned her, telling her to come urgently. As she approached the Tree, she looked down, weighed by guilt, unable to face her shame.

**"You have no reason to be ashamed child, what happened was a simple mistake."** Raava's soothing voice came from behind her. Korra only grinded her teeth and clenched her fists as tears threatened to come out.

**"Open your eyes and look straight Korra, for it is the reason I have summoned you."** Korra looked and her eyes widened in shock. The Tree of Time was an empty husk, Vaatu had escaped. _"Great, another disaster I could have prevented."_ She lamented.

"How? Why? When did Vaatu escape? How could this have happened?"

**"Vaatu's escape happened many millennia ago. However I cannot say when, why or how. It had been a time of great strife and I was so weakened that I had to cling to life to survive. When peace and order came, he was hidden from me as if he was sealed away. When he was freed, it was as if he was in pieces, vestiges of the whole. Now even the pieces themselves have been sealed. But these pieces are much more powerful than they should be. If they are ever joined Vaatu will be reborn and his might will dwarf my own."**

"If this happened so long ago, why have you summoned me now?"

**"9996 years have passed since the last Harmonic Convergence; 4 years are left till the next. Korra, it is time that you redeem yourself in your own eyes. The only redemption that truly matters."**

Korra's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. If her jaw could extend to the ground, it would have.

"You can't possibly mean – "

**"Yes, the Avatar must return, and you will be the one to train him."**

"But why me, you could choose any of the others. Aang, Wan, Roku all of them, they were great; they were leaders, teachers, warriors and heroes. Me I'm just a failure."

**"Every Avatar in history has contributed to the balance of the world. They have delved in chaos so that the world may know order. Bathed in blood so that others will never need to see it. Fought in wars to let the world to have peace. Been consumed by the darkness so that the rest could live in the light. You too have done the same."**

Raava continued, ignoring Korra as she opened her mouth to object. **"Unlike you, they live here in peace, content that they did the best they could have done. I will not deny them this final rest."**

**"I had hoped that you too would let go of your guilt and become at peace with yourself. However it seems you need to redeem yourself in your own eyes before that could happen. I am offering that chance to you."**

**"Not only this, you were the Last Avatar. You and Wan were the only ones to face the horror of Vaatu. There is no one better to teach the new Avatar to combat him than you."**

"How do you even know Vaatu will return? You yourself said that the pieces are divided and sealed."

**"If the battle last time has taught me anything it is that the fight between Vaatu and I is fated to happen. Somehow or other Vaatu will return and when he does the new Avatar will be the only hope left to the world."**

**"I have already chosen the next Avatar. He is a boy, reckless, foolhardy, restless, idiotic and loud; I could spend millennia stating his faults. He is also innocent kind, noble, courageous and pure hearted. He has experienced hatred and scorn and returned it with love. He possesses the determination to move continents and more potential than anyone I have ever seen."**

**"So tell me Korra, will you accept this task?"**

"I can't, I can't fail the world. Not again. Raava please choose someone else. I can't do this."

Raava's posture changed, somehow it became less powerful, more calm, more comforting. Korra could almost imagine her features forming a kind and comforting smile.

**"Korra, you never failed. You saved the world, stopped Vaatu and stopped him from engulfing the planet in 10,000 years of darkness. If that is not success then I do not know what is. What happened was a simple mistake, one that no one except you faults you for."**

Listening to Raava say that, Korra couldn't help but feel lighter. She couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe she had done all she could and now she could do it again. She looked up at Raava, some of her old fire returning in her eyes.

"I still don't think that I can do it. But if you truly believe in me so much then I'm willing to try."

Raava's posture once more changed, now she seemed to emit an aura of contentment and hope. **"Come let us make haste then."**

* * *

**Scene Change – Forest of Death**

Hidden inside an alcove of a tree, a blond boy wearing an orange jumpsuit was lying recovering from battle. He had recently valiantly if futilely fought against Orochimaru, a traitor of Konoha in a bid to protect his teammates. Now he and Sasuke were unconscious and recovering while they were under the protection of their pink haired teammate.

Suddenly three Gennins from Otogakure no Sato attacked. Demanding to end Sasuke's life. As Sakura fought her best to protect her team, no one noticed a white and blue spirit, carrying a dark skinned girl, enter into Naruto's body.

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**That's it for the prologue. Please Read and Review**


	2. The Boy in the Village : Parts 1 and 2

**Disclaimer:**

**I don't own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto**

**I don't own Avatar: The Legend of Korra. Its the property of Nickelodeon**

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**Chapter 1: The Boy in the Village**

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**Part 1: Sakura**

Sakura Haruno was having a bad day. Pardon the narrator for making the understatement of the century. A bad day is when you miss out on a raise, have a big fight with your beau or some other simple mundane occurrence that just ruins the day for you.

Within the past twenty four hours Sakura Haruno had been attacked by a man who was easily far scarier than Zabuza could ever hope to be. Said man had completely annihilated her team as she could do nothing but watch. He had knocked Naruto unconscious by a blow to the stomach then proceeded to extend his neck over 10 meters and given her crush a hickey on the neck. Now she was tired, sleep deprived and worried to death about her teammates. Add the itty bitty little fact that she was battling for her life against Genins from Otogakure no Sato and you realize bad day doesn't even begin to cut it.

Now the girl was trapped, no help had come, none was on the way. The only girl of the Oto team had caught her by her hair. The girl's words struck her to the core:

"Much more lustre than me...this...pft...trying to be a sexy ninja? If you have time to treat your hair; then train you female swine...Zaku kill that Sasuke guy in front of this boy chasers eyes. Let's teach this one a lesson."

Once more she was nothing more than a burden, getting in the way and hoping for someone to save her. She started to sob in defeat.

_"No! I'm through being like that. It doesn't matter how bad it is, I will fight."_

After all they were her team, her precious people, the only ones she could truly call her friends. She had to protect, help them. With that resolve in mind, she took her kunai and cut her hair, freeing her from Kin's hold.

Then it happened, Naruto's body lay unmoving, but his eyes shot open. His baby blue irises were replaced by clear bluish-white light. His chakra flared as his presence radiated power dwarfing anything she had felt. He was might and power; he was rage and fury and the Genins of Otogakure no Sato received his wrath.

Gale force winds whipped up knocking the Oto Genins off their feet. The winds rapid movement nullified the Oto team's sound based abilities. Then fire and lightening rained as the Earth itself flipped and churned. Water from the nearby stream flooded the area. The Oto team was tossed all over the battlefield as they were simultaneously burned, electrocuted, buried, cut and drowned. Then as quickly as it started the disaster stopped. Sakura looked around, she was completely unharmed. The flames never burned her. The lightening never touched her. Not a drop of water fell on her. Hell the wind hadn't even harmed what was left of her hairdo. The same could not be said for the Oto team. They lay broken and bruised, almost dead but not quiet, in the circle of destruction that surrounded Sakura.

Eyes wide, she looked towards her teammates. They too were unharmed; in fact they had not even moved an inch. She couldn't do a thing whilst Naruto had destroyed them while he was unconscious. Once more she couldn't help but recall how completely useless she was.

Sakura jumped upon hearing a noise behind her. As she hoped and prayed to not meet an enemy, she heard the loud cry. "Yosh! The Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha has arrived!" Faced with the ridiculousness of the situation Sakura did the only thing she could do; she laughed and cried. She fell on the ground as tears of joy, relief and regret flowed down her face.

* * *

**Part 2: Raava **

**Forest of Death, start of the Oto Genin attack**

Raava's initial plan had been a simple one. Go to the boy unnoticed, fuse with him momentarily, drop Korra and leave. The plan went without a hitch till the fuse with the boy part. Then, everything went straight to hell.

Pain. Absolute pure pain defined Raava's world from the moment she entered the boy's mind. She was being ripped apart, sucked into the abyss, captured and contained. She tried her best to control it, to fight the forces that were sucking her in, splitting her apart. The last thing she saw were giant gates blocked by two sheets. The first was a paper with the kanji for 'seal' written on it. Just above the paper there was another sheet, which seemed to be sucking her in. Then she knew no more.

When Raava woke up she immediately realised two things. One, she was in the cage she had seen before she was knocked unconscious by the pain. Korra and a small amount of Raava's essence were still outside the cage for some reason. Slowly her essence too was being sucked in the cage.

The second was a presence she knew all too well. It was destruction incarnate, chaos given form; the darkness itself. From Korra's expression, it was obvious that she recognized it as well. **"Vaatu".**

From behind Raava a humongous fox with nine tails stirred. It gave of the same presence as Vaatu albeit weaker. As if Vaatu had lost half of his strength.

"**You are obviously not my jailor. Tell me who you are and what is this Vaatu you speak of."**

The fox was being cautious. At full strength, it was Raava's equal. Now half of his chakra was lost; sealed inside the Shinigami by the Yondaime Hokage. As it stood, the Bijuu was no match for the spirit. The Kyuubi may be proud but he wasn't stupid.

"I must save her."

Raava's reply was cut off as a voice echoed throughout the mindscape. _**"The boy, I see we are in his mind. Though why does he contain a piece of Vaatu inside him?"**_

"Save her, I have to save her."

Raava ignored the boy's incessant mutterings and the fox's ceaseless questions as she observed the boy's mind. Naruto's mindcape resembled the basement of a power plant. It was a dark and dreary place lacking warmth, love and happiness. _**"Such a mind belongs only to someone who has suffered decades of depression."**_

"Save her, save her, SAVE HER."

A scream directed Raava's attention to a screen located in the boy's mind. The screen worked as an extremely advanced cinema. It relayed the sights, sounds, scents, tastes and touches the boy experienced to the occupants of his mind. Right now the screen was black as night since the boy's eyes were closed. However the sounds were enough to determine a battle was going on outside. Judging from the boy's reaction it was obvious that the girl who screamed was precious to him.

"Save her, I have to protect her."

The boy's voice was getting louder as the girl's screams and yells of defiance changed to sobs of defeat.

"Save her, **I MUST SAVE HER**"

Raava, Korra and Kyuubi watched as the bits of Raava's power that remained outside the cage suddenly entered water at the bottom of the mindscape. Then the screen lit up showing the hollow inside a tree. The boy's sense of touch indicated that his body never moved. Yet the sounds of bending were unmistakable. The mindscape was filled with the sound of gale force wind, of the earth moving, water rushing and lightening striking. These were drowned out by the screams of three different voices that followed.

Then suddenly it died down and the wisps of Raava's power came out of the floor as the screen turned black once more.

Korra's horrified face accurately described Raava's thought. The boy was too powerful. He possessed power that could easily corrupt and destroy a person. The kind of power that gave rise to monsters like Amon.

"Well shit" Korra's words precisely summed up the situation.

"_**We must be careful with the boy. After all power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."**_

Beside her the Kyuubi laughed. **"The easiest way to destroy the unworthy. Give them power. Now Uzumaki Naruto show us how unworthy you are."**

* * *

**And done.**

**The next part of chapter 1 should be up soon. I was working on both simultaneously then decided to split it up as it got too confusing.**

** By the way does anyone else hate how absolutely sexist Naruto is?**

**Honestly barring Tsunade and Mei all the female characters are basically useless. And even those two are weaker than their male counterparts.**


	3. The Boy in the Village : Parts 3 to 6

***Dodging bullets***

**Sorry for the late update guys. I've been really busy with work. If its any compensation, this chapter is twice as long as the others.**

**I've skipped the remainder of the second phase and the prelims. They went as canon according to my story.**

**As always, I don't own Naruto or Avatar : The Legend of Korra**

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**Part 3: Korra**

Korra was completely freaking out. The girl had her reservations to this plan from the start. She had punished herself for the past 9996 years for her failures. As such she would have been insecure even if the plan had gone flawlessly. But fate had a sick sense of humour and absolutely nothing had gone right.

Raava was trapped and Korra was unable to bend. She was also sharing her cage with the strongest piece of Vaatu. The only reason the two prisoners were unharmed was that they were unable to harm each other.

Then there was the boy. He was an absolute and complete moron. Even her Airbending training showed more progress in the initial stages than the boy's present training did. The girl had no clue how Raava expected her to make even a mediocre bender out of the boy in four years.

The final thing that left her awed and completely out of depth was the bending. Thankfully Raava was able to explain some of it.

The people of this time differed from the benders of old in many ways. Bending had originally appeared as a gift from mankind by the lion-turtles. They had utilized energybending to grant mankind the abilities needed to protect itself. Those with the gift improved it by observing the original benders present in nature itself.

The benders (ninjas) of this era had learned bending (ninshu) from the Sage over 5000 years ago. Due to this there were many fundamental differences.

The first was that they were able to energybend. All non – elemental ninjutsu was in fact a form of energybending. It enabled them to perform feats that were unimaginable. Ninjas were able to transform, create clones, control shadows, utilise sound as a weapon, manipulate puppets etc by utilising chi (or as they called it chakra). However no ninja since the Sage had shown the ability to grant or take away bending

The second was their ability to bend more than one element. The lion-turtles had been adamant to ensure that barring the Avatar, no human could access more than one element. The Sage had been more liberal in his choice and had given most of his followers the ability to bend more than one element as well as bend energy.

The final and most dreadful difference was that the modern benders had lost the spiritual aspect of bending. In her time benders were taught the spiritual half as well as the physical. This had the twofold effect of making the bender stronger as well as teaching them to utilise their bending for good. The Sage had tried to emulate this and bring peace through ninshu. But without a guide the world once again fell into chaos and yet again bending became just another weapon. In fact most ninjutsu specialised in killing a person as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Korra had to stop her inner musing to regain her balance as Naruto fell into the stream... again.

"Damn talentless brat"

After Naruto came out of the water, the boy's teacher (who had previously proven himself a super pervert much to Korra's ire) beckoned him closer. The man bent down to analyze the boy's stomach for some reason. He then made Naruto stand back a few paces as he put his hand behind his fingers to ready the **Gogyō Kaiin(Five Elements Unseal).** Korra watched as the man suddenly pounced driving his fingers at the boy's stomach and removing the seal Orochimaru had placed on him. Behind her she heard the sound of ripping as the paper representing the **Gogyō Fuiin(Five Elements Seal) **ripped itself to pieces before it dissolved to nothing. At that very moment Raava's chakra rushed out of the cage towards the boy's stomach. Korra watched as Raava's chakra touched Jiraiya's fingers a millisecond before they lost contact. Then the white haired man's body slumped as his consciousness appeared right in front of her.

**Part 4: Jiraiya**

It takes a lot to surprise the famous Gama Sennin Jiraiya. In his over fifty years of life the man had pretty much seen it all. But even he was caught off guard when he suddenly appeared inside what looked like the flooded basement of a power plant. The experienced ninja quickly took note of his surroundings. The room had three features that drew the man's attention. The first was a dark skinned girl wearing blue clothes looking just as stunned as he felt. The second was a gigantic cage with a paper having the kanji for seal on it. Somehow that seemed oddly familiar. The third was a humongous screen opposite to the cage which showed his body lying beside the stream where he was training Naruto.

With all the expertise of a seasoned shinobi, Jiraiya pinned the girl to the ground before she could react. Putting a kunai to her neck the Sennin started his interrogation.

"Now this can go two ways. Either you tell me where the fuck I am and how to escape or I break you and make you tell me."

"Ne Ero – Sennin? Ero – Sennin? Great first he injures my teacher, and then he faints himself"

The voice echoing throughout the room directed his attention back to the screen. The display showed a hand poking his form with a stick. Said hand was attached to an arm clad in a disgusting and familiar orange jumpsuit. Then it clicked and Jiraiya realised why the cage was familiar.

_"So I'm in Naruto's mind, but how did I get here."_

**"You are here because I summoned you Jiraiya."**

The Sannin's eyes widened as he was unable to comprehend what he saw. That form, the colouration was unmistakable. The being that emerged towards the cage bars was legendary. In his time with toads, he had heard and read references of her. His teachers had ensured he knew exactly who she was. The Great Spirit, the Holy Mother, the Lady of Light, Peacebringer those were some of the infinite titles she had. The Sennin immediately let go of the girl and knelt as he whispered her name in reverence.

"Raava – sama"

Raava always had maintained a vigil on the world. She kept watch but never interfered. She knew that mankind could only better itself by the actions of men. Over the past 40 years she had kept a closer look keeping in touch with the events. Few men had impressed her as much as the man in front of her had. By sheer hard work, he had transformed himself from a loud mouth brat to arguably the strongest shinobi alive. Yet he never let his strength consume him. Despite his vices, he grew an honourable and respectable man. One who valued and wanted peace. As such the spirit was overjoyed to have the man as the Avatar's teacher.

**"Rise child, you of all people need not bow to me. It is one of my greatest joys to see that no matter how turbulent times get, the Light has champions such as you. I am glad that you are my chosen's teacher."**

Jiraiya's eyes bugged out as he couldn't stop the grin on his face. The man almost chuckled at the thought of Pa's reaction to him receiving praise from Raava herself. His face then grew serious as he registered the second part of the spirits speech.

_"Her chosen? What does that mean? Besides how did she and the girl even get here?"_

**"The boy is my chosen. Korra here was meant to train him. I had come to drop her in the boy's mind. But when I entered I was sucked in and trapped in this cage along with the Kyuubi. Tell me Jiraiya why am I trapped and how do I leave?"**

Shock was visible on Jiraiya's face as he realized the exact implication of these words. _"The Child of Prophecy"_

"When exactly did you enter the Naruto?"

It was Korra who answered.

"Honestly, no clue. All I know is that the boy was sleeping inside a tree while his teammate kept watch. Then Raava and I entered him. Next thing I know Raava gets torn apart and sucked into that cage by a piece of paper of all things. Then the parts that are left behind get absorbed by the ground while sounds of battle go on outside. After the fight got over the parts come out and start going into the cage. Now after whatever you did that paper got ripped apart and you came here."

The Sennin's decades of experience provided him with an immediate answer.

"Gogyō Fuiin(Five Elements Seal)"

"Huh?"

"Gogyō Fuiin, the seal that was placed on Naruto by Orochimaru. It's a seal designed to suck up chakra. When the seal is applied, the user provides it two pieces of data. The first is whose chakra is to be sealed and the second is where the chakra should go. Orochimaru used it to put the Kyuubi's chakra that was flowing inside Naruto back into the seal. Raava – sama, your chakra, I really don't know it, feels the same, it's just as dense, powerful and oppressive. Yet also calm, peaceful and loving, everything the Kyuubi's is not."

Raava wasn't really surprised by this revelation. After all the Kyuubi was a piece of Vaatu. Vaatu and she had been like that, two sides of the same kind, polar opposites yet still the same.

"But why were some pieces of chakra still left behind?"

"Have you ever tried moving an entire pile of sand? It is easy to quickly move large piles, but it takes time to locate and move the grains of sand that are inevitably left behind. Sealing chakra is much the same."

**"And how do I leave?"**

"Well, you can't. Now that you are trapped in the seal, you are bound to Naruto. For all practical purposes he is your Jinchuriki. If you leave him now, he'll die."

**"Will my being here affect the boy?"**

"It will, the seal's designed to make small amounts of chakra of whatever is inside seal mingle with Naruto's. What exactly will happen I can't say. But it will likely not be harmful."

Frankly, Raava was happy with this development. The only reason she was forced to not stay in Naruto's body was the fear of killing her host. Now she was able to directly monitor and manipulate the boy's growth. Not to mention give Korra much needed self esteem boosts.

The only downside to this seemed to be the Kyuubi. While inside the seal Raava and the fox had been unable to harm each other. Every attempt of attack, purification and assault by either of them had left them had left the receiving party unharmed. Korra had been unable to bend in Naruto's mindscape. Eventually the three had to stay in a forced truce.

**"Jiraiya, I have a task for you. I want you to train the boy alongside Korra. We don't have much time. In four years, the world will face and enemy beyond any other. The boy must be ready to stop him."**

With that Raava sent out another pulse of chakra. The pulse hit Jiraiya's chest forcing him out of the boys mind and into his own.

"Ero – sennin you're awake. What the hell happened to you pervert?"

"Show respect to your teacher you brat. Because now, your training really begins."

Inside Naruto's mind a fox opened its eyes. **_"Interesting what you hear when people think you're not listening."_** The fox's interest was perked by Jiraiya's explanation of how Raava was sealed. **_"It seems Miss Love and Peace's chakra is almost same to mine. Perhaps I can make it mine."_** The fox's sinster smile grew wider as it began to plan its victory.

**Five hours later**

Jiraiya couldn't help but facepalm as Naruto fell off the tree again. Then he winced as while falling Naruto got hit between his legs by a branch. The man had initially planned to actively train Naruto after the exams. That had changed after the man's talk with Raava. He had decided to personally oversee Naruto's training and had instead sent a shadow clone to do his valuable "research".

Unfortunately, the first side effect of Raava's intrusion was a negative one. Naruto suddenly possessed two more sources of chakra. He control was shot, in fact it was worse than when he had graduated.

"Argh, what is wrong with me. I know I'm doing it right, then why can't I stick to that fucking tree?"

Jiraiya knew exactly what the problem was. By letting minute amounts of Senjutsu chakra flow through him, Jiraiya could sense every source of chakra up to a kilometre away without transforming. It was a skill that had proved invaluable during espionage and his "research".

Right now the man was using this skill to monitor Naruto's chakra. Chakra control was never an easy exercise. One could count the number of individuals in history that had perfect control on one hand and still have fingers left over. As a sage Jiraiya was one of the few who could truly understand Naruto's plight. Controlling one's own chakra was hard enough, controlling two sources was infinitely harder. Naruto has to balance four.

Not that the boy wasn't trying. With every attempt at the tree the boy was progressing. _"Kinaesthetic learning at its finest." _It was a simple and effective method. Keep doing something till you get it right. With each attempt ensure that the previous mistakes did not repeat. Eventually only perfection would remain.

Naruto seemed to be able to do this instinctually. However the method was time consuming. Time was a resource they were lacking. Naruto only had 28 days before the third round and four years to prepare for an unprecedented enemy.

_"If only there was way to make him do mistakes faster"_

The man spent 20 minutes pondering on the issue when he suddenly burst into perverted giggles prompting his student to look at him as if he was crazy. The reason for this was the man's shadow clone had popped transferring its memories to him.

_"Wait, transferring its memories."_

Jiraiya laughed out loud, on figuring out the now obvious answer.

"Tell me Naruto, how much do you know about the Kage Bunshin?"

**Part 5: Sakura**

**Five days later – Konoha Market**

Sakura had spent the last two days searching for her team. More specifically she was searching for Naruto. After the preliminary round the naturally curious girl had approached her sensei asking him about the strange power Naruto had displayed during the second test. Initially the Jonin had been cautious, almost afraid, but when she described the events that had occurred, he was as flummoxed as she was. Now after days of searching she had finally chanced on him while grocery shopping in Konoha Market. _"I can't believe it was this hard to locate a loudmouth dressed in orange."_

She was about to call out to Naruto when she looked. Sakura had always seen Naruto, until recently he had been, nothing more than an annoyance that kept following her. In the few months they were a team Sakura had accepted him as a good friend. Even if his infuriating crush on her never stopped. Right now, the tables were reversed. In her curiosity; Sakura was the one seeking out Naruto with single minded determination. This had let her to not just see the boy; but to finally truly look at him.

What she saw disturbed her. Most of the adults were pointedly ignoring Naruto. The eyes of the vendors would pass over him as if he was a stain on the wall. The people on the street would turn away when he reached anywhere close to them. It was as if they wanted to deny that the boy existed. That if they ignored him long enough he would disappear. The few who didn't do this were constantly sending hateful glares at the boy's direction.

Sakura could also hear the muttered whispers of "that 'boy'", "ninja", "insult", "law", "Sandaime-sama". One voice however came loud and clear. It was of a mother telling her child with scorn. "Stay away from that 'thing'." Sakura recalled her mother telling her something similar when they were younger and Naruto had wanted to be her friend.

Naruto was taking this extremely well. It was almost as if he was used to it. Regardless of the insults he maintained that stupid annoying grin of his. In fact the more the insults came the larger Naruto's grin became. Sakura was beginning to think her teammate was some self degrading masochist. Then she noticed Naruto's eyes. No matter how wide his smile was, his eyes were filled with pain, sadness and loneliness. _"So that's why he always closed his eyes whenever he gave that stupid grin of his."_

**"She had to protect them, help them." **Her Inner reminded her of the promise she had made to herself. Deciding to help Naruto and sate her curiosity at the same time Sakura shouted out loud.

"Oye Naruto wait up."

"S-Sakura-chan? What are you doing here?"

"Baka, I've been looking for you for three days now. I wanted to congratulate you on getting to the third round only to find that you have gone off to who knows where for training."

"B-but Sakura-chan, I need to train."

"No ifs or buts, you are coming with me right now! As a reward for getting to the third round, I'm treating you to Ichiraku's so come along."

This statement caused Naruto's grin to fall. Only to be replaced by a true smile. A smile as bright and radiant as the sun. Seeing it, Sakura mentally patted herself on the back for a job well done.

**Part 6: Naruto**

Naruto was the happiest he had been in while. Of course free ramen always left him happy and since Sakura was the one treating him, it made his mood even better. Though there was one dampener.

Naruto had grown up on his own; as such he had learned to gauze a person's mind from his/her body language. He may be dense as a rock when it came to signs of affection; he was an expert at reading negative and neutral emotions. It was a survival skill honed by being the target of years of hatred. It enabled him to see just how far he could push a person without repercussion.

Right now he could almost see Sakura's emotions. The girl was guilty, conflicted, curious and insecure. The curious part was explained when she had questioned him about what he did in the forest. Naruto had been unable to answer as he himself had no clue. Yet he had no idea why she was drowning in the other emotions. To the boy, Sakura was perfect; she was pretty, smart, powerful (those punches hurt!), sweet and caring. So for the life of him Naruto couldn't understand why she was like this.

"So how are you preparing for your fight against Neji-kun?"

"Oh, Ero – Sennin has been working me to the ground. Though I've only been doing chakra control so far. Hopefully he'll start teaching me some cool new jutsus soon."

"Ero – Sennin? Who the hell is that?"

"He says that he's the Great Gama Sennin Jiraiya – sama. Really he's nothing but a perverted old man."

This resulted in the poor boy being pounded to the ground.

"Narutoooo! Learn some respect. Jiraiya – sama is one the Densetsu no Sannin, apart from the Hokage, he's probably the strongest ninja in Konoha."

"What! No way he's that strong. The only thing he does all is peep on women and write that stupid book of his. He is an amazing teacher though. He told me this really thing about Kage Bunshin. It allows me to learn stuff really, really fast."

As soon as he said this Sakura's expression fell. The girl's self esteem plummeted as she realized her teammates would leave her behind again.

"Ne Sakura – chan, what happened? Did the teme do something? You've been sad since we came here."

At this the girl's expression morphed into one of surprise.

"Am I that obvious?"

"I just know you that well."

"You're amazing you know that, both of you. Sasuke-kun always was a genius, and you have gone from the dead – last to being a Chunnin Exam finalist in a matter of months."

Naruto tilted his head and squinted his eyes in confusion.

"Eh? You're amazing too Sakura – chan. You know everything about everything. You were even able to answer all the questions in the first test."

"Like that helped any. Whenever we were in trouble, you two bailed us out. All I did was sit, watch and cry. I'm not like you; the two of you are so strong. Me? I'm a weak burden."

"That's what training is for isn't it? To get stronger."

"Don't you get it! I'm not like you! I've tried, I've tried so hard and yet both of you always leave me behind! Now it's even worse! Sasuke – kun has the Sharingan and you have some learning trick with the Kage Bunshin. Me? I'm normal."

Naruto finally quieted down as he couldn't think of a reply to that statement. His face scrunched up in concentration. Suddenly he jumped, hit with an epiphany. With a bright and comforting smile he turned to Sakura.

"Ne, Sakura – chan? Will you train with me?"

Faced with Naruto's smile and the sheer determination in his eyes, Sakura was unable to say no.

* * *

**And that's a wrap**

**Training begins next chapter. So R&R people.**


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